Zagari-Ratcliffe, British-Iranian Colleague, Leaves Iranian State Media

British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zagari-Ratcliffe poses for a photograph after she was released from house arrest in Tehran, Iran March 7, 2021. The Zagari family/WANA/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

DUBAI, March 16 – British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and dual-citizen Anousheh Ashuri left Iran on Wednesday after years of imprisonment after the UK government paid off its $530 million debt to Tehran, Iranian officials said. state media.

The semi-official Iranian news agency Fars reported that she was handed over to a British team at Imam Khomeini International Airport. Ashuri also left Iran, a source close to his family told Reuters.

There was no immediate confirmation that they were being taken directly to London.

“The UK has allocated $530 million… prior to release,” Fars said.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the Fars report.

Earlier, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK was seeking ways to pay off a historic debt to Iran related to the sale of battle tanks to Iran’s former ruler, the Shah.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager for the Foundation, was arrested at Tehran airport in April 2016 and later convicted by an Iranian court of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment.

Her family and charitable foundation, which operates independently of and its news subsidiary Reuters, deny the allegations.

The UK Foreign Office, the foundation and Zaghary-Ratcliffe’s husband Richard did not respond to a request for comment.

Ashuri was sentenced in 2019 to 10 years in prison for spying for the Israeli Mossad and two years for “illegal acquisition of wealth,” according to Iran’s judiciary.

The releases come after Tehran and London continued negotiations over a longstanding £400m ($520m) debt.

Iran’s clerical rulers say Britain owes money the Shah of Iran paid upfront for 1,750 Chieftain tanks and other vehicles, almost none of which were delivered after the 1979 Islamic Revolution toppled the US-backed leader.

The Foundation stated that she traveled to Iran in her personal capacity and did not work in Iran. The Foundation is a charitable organization independent of and operating independently of Reuters News.

Reporting by Parisa Hafezi; Writing by Michael Georgi and Samia Nahul; Editing by John Boyle

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